Apparatus for covering heels



y 1932- G. M. SMITH 1,866,728

APPARATUS FQR COVERING HEELS Filed Dec. 1, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l [N VEN 701a July 12, 1932. G. M. sMlTH APPARATUS FOR COVERING HEELS Filed Dec. 1, 19550 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jaef Patented July 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARDNER M. SMITH, OF CLAYTON, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO KANTSKUF HEEL OORPORA V TION, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI APPARATUS FOR COVERING HEELS Application filed December 1, 1930. Serial No. 499,145.

This invention has to do with the art of covering heels. Hitherto coverings have been applied to heels by holding the heels in a suitable vise, adhesively treating the surfaces of the heel to be covered, stretching the cover over against and around the said surfaces, and then smoothing it down all over until it intimately fits every portion of the surfaces to be covered. This sequence of operations requires considerable time as well as skill and dexterity; and the principal purpose of the present invention is to render the process of covering the heels simpler and much more expeditious Divers forms of apparatus may be employed in carrying out the method of the present invention; and, accordingly, another aspect of the present invention resides in the provision of novel apparatus especially adapted for carrying out the aforesaid process in an advantageous and expeditious manner.

Other objects, advantages, and desirable features of the invention, chiefly more or less iancillary to those aforesaid, will appear in the course of the following description of divers illustrative embodiments of the spirit thereof.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which like numapparatus for carrying out the method of this invention, showing the heel and cover-' ing in the relative positions they occupy thereon preparatory to the functioning of the cushion;

' Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the same, taken heightwise through the heel;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary transverse-sectional view thereof, taken on the line 33 in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a heel covered by the process of this invention;

Figure 5 exhibits the manner of'practising the process of this invention by utilizing for apparatus a block of porous or highly compressible sponge rubber;

Figure 6 is aside elevation of the novel form of apparatus especially devised for more advantageously carrying out the method of this invention;

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 7-7 in Figure 6;

Figure'8 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 8-8 in Figure 7 Figure 9 is a front elevation; and

Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 101O in Figure 9.

The heel ordinarily is of wood, and the covering of sheet celluloid; but the invention is not necessarily restricted thereto, as any suitable materials may be employed. The

inflated bag 1 of Figures 1, 2, and 3 is preferably formed of thin rubber sheeting, afew thousandths of an inch in thickness, and is provided with a stem 2 through which it may be inflated and whichmay be closed after infiation. The cover 3 is blanked out of sheet material and slightly oversize to allow sufficient margin for ithe'triniming of the edges after it is attached to the heel. If the cover 3 be of celluloid, it is suitably softened in any well known manner to render it sufficiently pliable and flexible to fit the contour of the heel. The back of the cover 3 is then rendered adhesive by spraying it with a suitable cement or adhesively treating it in any other well known manner, and then placing the cover 3 on the inflated cushion 1, as shown in Figure 1, with its sprayed or back side upwardly presented. The heel 4; is then placed on the cover 3 in proper relation thereto, as shown in Figure 1, and pressed against the bag 1 until the cover 3 and heel 4 have sunk to a depth suflicient to cause the surface of the bag to tightly press the cover 3' against all parts of the surface of the heel that is to be covered, with possibly the allowable exception of the breast margin 5 of the sides of the heel, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. However, if the heel is sunkdeep'enough, even the breast margins 5 will be covered. While the heel is still in its depressed position, the projecting breast edges 6 of the cover 3 are pressed toward each other between the fingers of the op erator, who removes the covered heel from the bag 1 while holding it in this manner and sets it aside to dry and set,after theuppermarginal edges 7 have been folded against the rand or heel seat 8. This manner of removing the heel, also, effects the intimate contact of the cover with the breast margin 5 of the sides of the heel, thereby assuring adhesion of the cover to all parts of the back and sides of the heel. When the adhesive treated surfaces have become hardened and set, the superfluous cover material 6 that extends beyond the rising breast edges 9 of the heel 4 is trimmed ofl, so that the trimmed covered heel presents the appearance exhibited in Figure 4. The lower edge 10 of the cover may be either folded against and cemented to the bottom or lift face 11 of the heel 4, or it may be trimmed off flush with the face 11. It will be observed that the cover is pressed simultaneously against all parts of the surface of the heel to be covered thereby, thereby smoothing as well as stretching the cover to fit intimately the contiguous surface of the heel; and that the covered heel is ejected or lifted automatically from its sunken or depressed position by the pressure of the gas in the inflated body 1.

Figure 5 exhibits the manner of employing a highly porous block 12 of sponge rubber in lieu of an inflated bag in applying the covering 3 to the heel 4. The distended position of the rubber 12, and the position of the cover 3 and heel 4 thereon preparatory to the depression are indicated by the broken-and-dotted lines in Figure 5. When the heel is depressed, as shown in full lines, it and the cover will be invaginated by the rubber so as to press the cover 3 intimately against all parts of the surface of the heel 4 intended to be covered. o

The device exhibited in Figures 6 to 10, inclusive, comprises a base plate 13, having hinged thereto at 14 a pair of upstanding arms or supports 15, spaced apart to provide an intervening channel or gap 16. The arms 15 are slotted at 17 to receive the lower strand 18 of a band or web 19, which passes around the outer faces 20 of the supports 15 so that its upper strand 21 overlies or spans the gap or channel 16. The band 19 is preferably formed of thin resilient sheeting, such as sheet rubber, and fits snugly around the arms 15 so that the upper strand 21 does not sink as it passes over the channel 16. The slot 17 permits the sleeve or band 19 to be slipped therethrough in placing the band 19 on the arms 15 n the position shown or in removing it there- 'fjom, thereby facilitating replacement or re newal of the band 19 should it become damaged or unduly worn. The upper faces 22 of the supports 15 are preferably convex arcuate in a front-to-rear direction so as to conform the upper strand 21 to the'rising concave curve of the back'of the heel 4, as

shown in Figure 8. The ends of the faces 22 terminate in roundedprojections 23, and the front and rear edges 24 and 25, respectively, pass over or overlap these projections, whereby the band 19 is held against front or rear contraction or dislocation during the operation of the device. The faces 26 of the arms 15, on which the lower strand 18 is seated may be concave arcuate as viewed from above, and the ends 27 of said faces turned upwardly, as shown in Figures 6 and 8, to prevent similar contraction or dislocation of the lower strand 18.

Wire-cored cylindrical brushes 28 are bent into acurve as shown and attached to the inner sides 29 of the supports 15 in any suitable manner, as exemplified by staples 30, shown in Figure 7. Helical springs 31 have their ends 32 passed through holes 33 in the supports 15 and are under tension to pull the supports 15 toward each other. The ends 32 are bent over against the faces 20 of the arms 15 to prevent their being pulled in through the holes 33. Rods 34 extend through the helices of the springs 31 and their ends abut against the inner faces 29 of the support 15 to limit mutual approach of the supports 15 beyond the position shown in Figures 7 and 9.

The operation of this device will be quite apparent from an inspection of Figures 6 to 10, inclusive. When the heel 4 and cover 3 are depressed against the upper strand 21 of the band, 19, the heel 4, cover 3, and band 19 pass between the opposing brushes 28, causin g the band 19 to stretch and press the cover 3 intimately against all parts of the heel that are to be covered. The pivoted connections 14 and the springs 31 permit the arms 15 to spread just sufficiently to accommodate an extra large size of heel. For a small size heel, however, the supports 15 will remain in thevertical positions shown in Figures 7 and 9 during the operation or use of the device. The sponge rubber of Figure 5 is superior to the inflated bag in that it does not require inflation and is not rendered inoperative by a puncture; but it requires a greater pressure to sink the heel to the required depth in the sponge rubber than it does in the case of the inflated cushion. The device of Figures 6 to 10, inclusive, however, possesses the advantages of both the sponge rubber and the inflated bag without the disadvantages of either. I

Having thus fully described this invention, I hereby reserve the benefit of all changes in form, arrangement, order, or use of parts, as it is evident that many minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising brush bristles arranged to form op posing yieldable walls, and a yieldable web overlying the space between said walls.

2. A device of the character described comprising brush bristles arranged to form opposing walls, and an elastic web overlying the space between said walls.

3. A device of the character described com prising a pair of relatively movable supports, a web borne thereby and spanning the space between said supports, and means underneath said web and intermediate said supports and adapted to yield when the web is pressed thereagainst to invaginate the pressing part of the web, one, at least, of the said supports being resiliently urged toward the other.

A. A device of the character described comprising a pair of relatively movable supports, a web borne thereby and spanning the gap between said supports, and means underneath said web and intermediate said supports and adapted to yield when the web is pressed thereagainst to invaginate the pressing part of the web, one, at least, of the said supports being resiliently urged toward the other, and there being provisions for preventing further relative approach of said supports when the gap becomes a predetermined minimum.

5. A device of the character described comprising a base, a pair of slotted supports borne thereby, projections extending from the upper edges of said supports, a yieldable band encompassing said projections and eX- tending through said slots and spanning the gap between said supports, and means within said band and intermediate said supports adapted to yield when the band is pressed therea-gainst to invaginate the pressing part of the band.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

GARDNER M. SMITH. 

